The last contact with the outside of the imprisoned Russian opponent Alexei Navalni occurred on December 5, when he spoke with his lawyers. From that day on, total silence was imposed, which is what always happens in Russia when a prisoner is transferred to another prison. But the fact that almost two weeks have passed is increasing the concern of his collaborators.
In addition, a court has had to postpone several court sessions due to the absence of the inmate, who is also the most critical voice of the last decade against Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin. The UN says that his absence could be understood as a “forced disappearance.”
Kira Yármish, Navalny’s spokesperson in exile, indicated this Monday that her team has unsuccessfully sent requests to more than 200 provisional detention centers to try to locate his whereabouts. In a message on the social network X, she said that it was the thirteenth day without hearing from the activist.
On the other hand, the court of Vladimir, a region east of Moscow where the penal colony where the opponent was imprisoned is located, has had to postpone to next January two court hearings in which he was supposed to participate, supposedly by videoconference. “Two hearings have been postponed due to the impossibility of ensuring the participation” of the anti-corruption activist, the Ría Nóvosti agency reported.
According to the lawyers, there are seven suspended hearings “until Navalni’s whereabouts are established.”
His partners raised the alarm after their lawyers could no longer contact him on December 6. Officials at the IK-6 Penal Colony in Melekhovo told them that he was no longer part of the facility’s prison population and that he was being transferred to another prison, although they did not indicate which one.
This process, which in Russia is usually carried out by rail, can take weeks and the family and lawyers are only informed when it is finished.
Navalny is supposedly being sent to a “special regime” prison (the most severe system) after he received his last sentence in August, 19 years in prison for extremism and other charges.
Already then, his collaborators warned of possible health complications, due to lack of food and the fact that the opponent has been sent to solitary confinement on at least twenty occasions.
Two weeks ago “he had a serious health incident. Navalni’s life is in great danger,” said María Pévchij, who directs the Anti-Corruption Foundation created by the activist.
The United Nations rapporteur on Russia, Mariana Katzarova, has also expressed fears about Navalni’s health. This Monday she stressed that the Russian opponent has not received adequate medical treatment for almost two years, which has contributed to a serious deterioration in his health.
“I am extremely concerned that the Russian authorities do not report where and how Navalny is for such a long period of time, something that could be considered a forced disappearance,” the Bulgarian rapporteur highlighted in a statement.
Last week Dimitri Peskov, Putin’s spokesman, told reporters that knowing the whereabouts of the activist is not within his competence and that they have “neither the intention nor the possibility of following the fate of the prisoners.”
“Navalni and other arbitrarily detained persons must be immediately released and compensated for the damage suffered, in line with international human rights obligations,” Katzarova concluded.
Alexei Navalny, 47, has been trapped in the Russian prison system since January 2021, when he returned to his country after spending several months recovering in Germany. The previous summer he had been poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok during a trip to Siberia.
The 19-year prison sentence for extremism imposed on him by Russian courts last summer is in addition to the 11.5 years he was already serving for fraud. In this way, the opponent will remain in prison for three decades. His supporters maintain that the accusations have been fabricated to expel him from politics, and fear that they will keep him in prison as long as Putin remains in power.
The lack of news from Navalny coincides with the start of the electoral campaign in Russia for the presidential elections and with the announcement of the candidacy of Vladimir Putin, who at 71 years old is seeking his fifth term.
The reform of the Russian Constitution in 2000 allows him to run again and serve two more terms of six years each. With his certain victory, he will ensure that he will be in the Kremlin until 2030. But since he will be able to run once again, he will have the possibility of remaining in power until 2036, which would surpass Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.